


The Price of Fear and Sin

by BombshellKell



Category: Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Gore, Gen, Horror, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-25
Updated: 2013-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-12 22:03:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/816546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BombshellKell/pseuds/BombshellKell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a botched attempt to transport themselves to another dimension without the aide of Heimdall, a young Loki, Thor, Fandral, Sif and Sigyn find themselves in a strange, horrific dimension that none of them even knew the existence of. The five of them are separated, each of them confronted by a monstrosity seemingly constructed from their darkest fears or most unforgivable sins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fallen

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was definitely inspired by Silent Hill, but it's important to know that the realm they are transported to is not the town of Silent Hill, just a place similar to it it, with similar ghouls and similar, terrifying knowledge of what will most quickly break them.

They knew that Heimdall would never let them do it, so, of course, when they were out of ideas, they went to Loki instead. He was sitting with Sigyn in the library, the two of them hunched over the same book, as they usually were, until Thor walked up and knocked his fist on the table, flanked on either side by Fandral and Sif. 

“Loki. We are to go on an adventure, and we need your help.” 

“Shh.” Sigyn put her finger to her lips. “He is concentrating.” They looked back to Loki, his eyes fixed on a particular passage in the book. As they watched, the text lifted from the paper, seeping up into his long fingers and into his arms. Thor rolled his eyes and grabbed Loki’s wrist, sending the letters cowering back into the parchment. 

Loki turned on him. “Excuse me. I’ve been working on that spell for months.” 

“And we have been sitting bored for months while you and Sigyn, our only methods of transportation, have been gathering dust in this old dungeon.” 

“A library is hardly a dungeon,” Sigyn muttered, though she hadn’t the nerve to speak up. Loki gave her a little smile, but shut the book.

“I am not going to help you again,” he said. “I’m tired of being nothing but your tool, taking you to these other worlds simply because Father will not let you travel alone with his permission. Where would you have me place you this time? Vanaheim? Alfheim?” 

“We want nothing to do with any world we have already been to,” Fandral said, leaning up against Sigyn’s side of the table. She blushed and looked away from him. “We want a new realm. A different realm.” 

“There are no new and different realms,” Loki said dryly.

“Ah, but we know that isn’t true.” Sif sat on the edge of the table. “There are unnamed realms that even Heimdall’s eye is not trained on. Realms that Midgardians tell of in their legends and scary stories. They do exist. You know, Loki, that there are many dozens of realms besides the ones that Asgardians frequent. I’m surprised you of all people would limit yourself.” 

“You are asking me to blindly deliver you -- us -- to a realm that even I do not know the location or existence of?”

“That’s right.” Thor grinned. “We’re asking you to take a leap of faith.” 

“You know that I am not one for leaps of faith. What makes you think that I will not simply refuse your request and tell Father?” 

“Why would you do that?” Sif raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you want a chance to prove your talents? Especially to Sigyn, your future wife?” 

“Sigyn’s and my marriage is arranged, and not for many years,” Loki pointed out. “I should have no reason to feel the need to impress her any more than any other friend.” Sigyn deflated a bit, though no one seemed to notice. 

“Then why not prove your talents, not only to us, but to yourself?” Fandral offered, crossing his arms over his chest. “Surely some practice would be good for you.” 

Loki looked up at him. “Are you implying I need practice?” 

“Don’t be silly. Everyone needs practice.” 

He stood from the table, so quickly it made Sigyn flinch. “I will do it. Though I do not think you truly know what you are doing.” 

“We know,” Thor assured him, putting an arm around his shoulders. “Sigyn, you come too. He may need some help.” 

She flushed. “Oh, I doubt...” 

“Oh, come on.” Fandral pulled her up by the wrist and steered her around to walk with them. “We all could use something pretty to look at, in any event.” 

Sigyn started stuttering, but they were already moving as a group toward the library door, so she found it useless to argue. “Where do you suggest we go, where we won’t be caught?” Thor asked, turning to Loki. 

“My chambers,” he said. “Big enough to hold us, but no one would enter without knocking.” 

“Loki...” Sigyn quickened her steps to catch up with him. “Are you certain this is a good idea? If we do not know where we are going, who’s to say we’ll know how to get back?” 

“I do not know where I am delivering us, no, but I should be able to bring us back without too much trouble.” 

The rest of the group walked ahead, but Sigyn stepped in front of Loki and stared up at him. “What are you trying to prove? Is it worth putting us in danger?” 

“Yes,” Loki said simply. “I’m confident enough in my abilities to make it worth it. Besides.” He lowered his voice. “Why do you think I’m doing this? Once they see these other realms, once they see what they’re dealing with, they’ll have me transport us back with their tails between their legs and their heads down, as they should be.” 

Sigyn pressed her lips together. “...I still don’t know.” 

“You don’t have to come,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You can turn around and leave, right now.” 

She looked him in the eyes, then looked over her shoulder, where the rest of the group was standing waiting for them a few columns away. She shook her head and turned back to Loki. 

“I’ll come with you. I don’t want to make you go there alone. You may need my help.” 

Loki smiled at her, and gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Good. I would much rather make this journey with you.”

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “And you aren’t just saying that because I’ll be your wife someday?” 

“No,” he assured her, his smile turning into a grin. “And besides,” he added, “it’s only arranged.” He moved past her, to rejoin the group. Sigyn watched him for a few moments, her smile withering away, before squaring her shoulders and moving after him. 

Loki led them back to his chambers, standing them all in a circle in his main room. Sigyn stood herself between Loki and Fandral with a soft sigh, looking up at how determined Fandral’s face was. Why any of them would want to do this was so beyond her that she didn’t even want to think about it. It was foolish, it was dangerous, and all of them could be killed without being in this new realm for more than a few moments. But they seemed so persistent. 

“I am not as steady as Heimdall,” Loki said. “So be sure we all stay together. Join hands, and do not let go until we’re on the ground. If we are separated, there’s no way of knowing how to get back together.” 

There was a scattering of nods, of varying enthusiasm, and they all awkwardly joined hands. Loki closed his eyes, focusing on slipping underneath Heimdall’s radar. It wasn’t easy; the gatekeeper was watching every corner of Asgard, his eyes on every living thing, every small sound and movement. Loki put a sheen of smoke over them all to hide them from his view, a shield that would keep them out of sight. Then, he let his mind wander over all of the nine realms, ignoring them, and slipping in between the cracks of them, like spaces between books on shelves. 

In between the realms were arrays of smaller ones, specks of dust on the books in comparison. He couldn’t focus on one in specific; no, that was much too difficult, even for him. So he focused on a group, gently sweeping over them and grabbing onto the first one he thought he could steady them with, sending them on a path through the stars toward it. 

They were going too fast to stop, but halfway there, all of the stars seemed to go out around them. Loki’s eyes widened, his hair whipping around his face as he turned his head to look at the others behind him. They were looking up at him with similar expressions of nervousness, but none of them could do anything. They were already going to land. 

Though on what, Loki wasn’t certain. The stretch in front of them didn’t look like any realm he knew. It had no surface that he could see, only a great black and red mottled chasm, like a giant open wound in the space around them. Loki’s first reaction was to try to send them back, and he squeezed his eyes shut to do so, but even he knew it was useless. It was too late. The five of them were plummeting down into the void, and none of them could stop it.

When they seemed to breach the void’s atmosphere, Loki could finally see the surface, though it didn’t look any better than it did from higher above. All at once, he realized he was losing control of their route; they were separating. 

Panicking, he held tighter to Thor and Sif’s hands, but they were stretching further and further away. 

“Don’t let go!” he screamed. 

“I can’t--“ Sif let out a shriek as her hand slipped out of Loki’s and she veered off course, falling down to the realm’s surface. Loki saw a cloud of dust where she fell, but had no time to worry about her anymore. Thor’s hand slipped away as well, and all of them fell one by one, scattering. 

It wasn’t long before Loki hit the ground himself, face-first, his cheek scraping against the ground as he slammed against it and came to a painful stop, his body tensing in shock. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to attempt to ensure he was calm when he got to his feet. 

The realm was unlike anything he’d ever seen. It was maze-like, seemingly composed entirely of rusted, grated metal and torn, stained fabric stretched in between. It was dark and cold, and as Loki looked around him, the sound of scraping and creaking made him whip his head around, trying to find their sources but finding no possibilities, except that the sounds must have been coming from all around him at once. He wondered if the realm had any life, and simultaneously prayed that it didn’t. He also got the strange feeling that the entire realm was indoors, though perhaps that was from the lack of life.

He shakily took a few steps forward, ignoring a scuttling sound behind him as best he could. He had no light source, so he would have to use magic. Stretching his hand out in front of him, he tried to summon a light, one of the first things he learned to do with magic, but found he simply couldn’t. It wasn’t that he couldn’t summon the energy; he couldn’t even feel any sort of magic within himself, as if someone had turned off a switch. He shook his hand a couple of times, but felt no magic rush to it, as it usually did. 

“Sigyn?” he called, walking forward a bit more. There was a pathway directly in front of him, flanked on both sides by the rusty metal grates. He wondered what sort of realm this could be. His surroundings looked nightmarish, all made of ancient, soiled materials and metals. When he walked, he heard the metal grating clunk beneath his feet. “Thor? Can anyone hear me?” 

There was no reply, only the sounds the darkness made. Loki shook his head, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. He had to find everyone and get them back. This was much worse than he’d thought, and he’d lost control. He knew better than that. How could he have been so stupid? 

He wanted to find Sigyn first, so he could apologize to her, but he wasn’t about to be picky. He started forward into the rusty maze, hoping his footsteps weren’t loud enough to attract any sort of life this realm had.


	2. Screech

Thor sat up abruptly, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. When he reached for the sword at his belt, he found it wasn’t there, nor was the rest of the light armor he’d been wearing. He was back in his simple tunic, breeches and boots, having been dropped in what appeared to be a shallow hole in the ground. 

He reached up, rubbing at his forehead to combat the pain that was assembling there. Standing up and steadying his legs, he reached up and hauled himself out of the hole. He looked around, seeing himself surrounded by similar holes, all headed with thick carved stones imbedded into the soil. A burial ground. Turning his head back, he saw his own name carved into the stone at the top of his hole, written in the old runes that he learned to read as a child. 

A chill went down his spine, but he shook it off. He needed to find the others, wherever they were. No one was near, or so it seemed as he looked around. “Sif?” he called. “Fandral? Loki?” He took a few hesitant steps forward, but the ground crumbled beneath his feet. He fell down hard into another grave, dust swirling up around him. 

But this one wasn’t empty. 

He let out a cry, hurrying to his feet when he felt the bone under his hands. Whether it was Aesir bone or some other creature’s, he didn’t know, but the skulls he had lain his hands on were shaped just as his was, the eye sockets empty and staring. This hole was full of bones, some whole and some broken, but all old and stained. 

Thor brushed his hands off on his breeches and looked up, stepping out of this shallower hole. The area was silent, and seemingly vast; he couldn’t see anything ahead of him or behind him but graves and fog. Not bothering to pause and gather courage that was already always present, he started forward into the mist, stepping around graves and stones and listening carefully for any other footsteps or voices. Perhaps one of his friends had landed close by. 

Before he’d gotten very far, he came across a shriveled and gnarled tree. He reached up and broke one of its branches off, and when he did, he could have sworn he heard the tree groan in protest. He swallowed hard but kept going, finding a rock to sharpen the branch on and sitting on one of the headstones as he did. He wasn’t certain why he was so afraid; he’d fought worse things than nothing before, he thought wryly. Nothing had come out at him yet and there was still no real sign of danger. 

That was, until he heard the screech. 

It was quiet, far away, but it sounded bigger than an ordinary raven or crow, the way it pierced through the cloudy sky to him. He looked up, but saw nothing but mottled grey, at least for a moment. Then, he saw the shadow of the bird passing through the clouds, sweeping fast. He got a brief glimpse of a feathery torso before it was gone again, with another belly-turning screech that made Thor flinch.

An unwanted chill traveled down his spine, but he shook it off. Why should he care if a large bird was flying the skies of this realm? He needed to pull himself together. It wasn’t going to hurt him any more than a raven back home would. 

He shook his head and stood again, clutching his sharpened branch, and started forward into the foggy burial grounds, dodging the holes in the ground and composing himself when he accidentally stepped into unseen ones that caved in under his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These introductory chapters will be a bit shorter, but they will pick up in length again soon.


End file.
